~ issues of relevance to Waikanae people

can the council(s) help reduce emissions?

Those who have looked at the list of questions given to candidates in the Politics in the Paekakariki-Raumati Ward Facebook page (see earlier) will have noticed this one :-

QUESTION 11: Do you have any ideas about how the Council can play its part in significantly reducing its emissions as per the Paris agreement. What targets should the Council set?

The answers given aren’t encouraging. However, as we see it, there are three things that can be done:

The diesel bus fleet funded by the GWRC could be progressively replaced with CNG powered buses. Los Angeles Metro has replaced all its diesel buses with them, the last conversions were made in 2008, and now has one of the biggest such fleets in North America. CNG is methane which burns to CO2 and water. CO2 is still a greenhouse gas, but it’s not as bad as pollutants from burning petrol and diesel.

Electric vehicle recharging posts could be provided throughout the region, whether by the GWRC or by the individual councils. “Charge anxiety” is a factor with these.

Both councils can switch their car fleets to electric cars when these become reasonably priced. At present they are about twice the price of petrol powered cars, but that will change.